Noel
Cantwell

Irish Footballers that Played for Manchester
United - Noel Cantwell

Noel Cantwell - Introduction

Noel Cantwell from Cork
in the Republic of Ireland was born on 28 February 1932. A highly talented
sportsman, Cantwell also played international cricket for Ireland. He
joined West Ham United from Cork Athletic as a 20 year old and went on
to play in defence for the Hammers for eight years. In Matt Busby's attempts
to reconstruct his Manchester United team, following the tragic events
of the 1958 Munich air disaster, the great manager saw Cantwell as an
important element in this pursuit. Noel Cantwell signed for Manchester
United in November 1960 for a transfer fee of £29,500. This was
a record fee at the time for a fullback.

Noel Cantwell & Manchester United

Noel Cantwell made his
debut for Manchester United against Cardiff City on 26 November 1960 at
Ninian Park. It was an inauspicious debut for Cantwell as United lost
3-0. Things looked up as United then went on a seven match unbeaten run
that included six wins and one draw. It was in this run of matches that
Noel Cantwell scored his first goal for Manchester United. He scored the
first goal in a 3-0 win over Middlesboro in the FA Cup.

In his first season with
the club Noel Cantwell's Manchester United team finished 7th in the First
Division but made no significant progress in either cup competition. In
the next two seasons the Red Devils slid down the table finishing 15th
and 19th, narrowly avoiding relegation in the 1962/63 season. However
Cantwell did have the honour of leading Manchester United out for the
1963 FA Cup final against Leicester City at Wembley Stadium. The team
also contained fellow Irishmen Tony Dunne
at fullback and Johnny
Giles in midfield. Through goals from Denis Law and David Herd (2)
United ran out 3-1 winners.

In the 1963/64 with Noel
Cantwell as captain United improved their league position to such an extent
that they were runners-up to Liverpool
FC. The next season saw Manchester United go one better as they won
the First Division title although Cantwell missed most of that season
due to injury. He returned to make 29 appearances in the 1965/66 season
in which United were 4th in the League, and reached the semi-finals of
the European and FA Cups. It was during this season that Noel Cantwell
scored his last goal for Manchester United on 30 April 1966. It was against
his former club West Ham in a 3-2 defeat at Upton Park.

Cantwell's last season
with the Reds was also blighted by injury and he only made four appearances
as United went on to win the League title for the second time in three
seasons. Noel Cantwell's last appearance for Manchester United was against
Southampton on 19 November 1966 and United won 1-2 at the Dell.

Manchester United Legend Bobby Charlton's
Views on Noel Cantwell

In his autobiography had
the following to say about Manchester United and Ireland fullback Noel
Cantwell:

"The signing of Noel Cantwell
from West Ham United in November 1960 was one of the club's more
positive and successful moves."

"Noel was a big handsome
man, a natural sportsman..."

"... my appreciation of
Noel Cantwell was much more straightforward. I liked him as a man
and, if there was such a thing, I thought he was a United type.
I also admired him as a player ... sometimes the quality of his
playing ability was overlooked, but he was a defender of considerable
class, strong on the left side and with a very nice touch. When
he led us out for the 1963 cup final, I thought, 'This is good -
we have a real captain.' "

Noel Cantwell - Republic of Ireland Career

Noel Cantwell made his
debut for the Republic of Ireland on 28 October 1953 against Luxembourg
at Dalymount Park.
Cantwell was just 21 years of age as Ireland ran out 4-0 winners in a
1954 World
Cup qualifier. Ireland did not qualify for that World Cup but Cantwell
did have the pleasure of scoring his first international goal against
the reigning World Cup winners as Ireland beat West Germany 3-0 at Dalymount
Park on 25 November 1956. Man of the match Noel Cantwell scored Ireland's
first goal from the penalty spot 17 minutes into the second half.

Cantwell captained Ireland
on a number of occasions and he scored 14 goals (5 penalties) in 36 appearances.
An international scoring ratio of 39% that many forwards would be very
happy to achieve. Noel Cantwell played his last match for the Republic
of Ireland on 22 February 1967 against Turkey in a 1968
European Championship qualifier in Ankara. Cantwell also scored his
last goal for Ireland in this match. It was an 89th minute consolation
goal as the Turks were already 2-0 up at the time. Nevertheless, Noel
Cantwell's last action in his Irish international career was to score
a goal for Ireland.

In March 2015 Noel Cantwell
was honoured in his native Cork when a pedestrian passageway near where
he grew up in the city was named after him.